Section II ready for state wrestling

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

Shenendehowa sophomore Stevo Poulin is going after his second state wrestling title.

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The state wrestling championships take place Friday and Saturday at Times Union Center in Albany.

Athletes will compete in Division I (larger schools) and Division II (smaller schools), and Section II has a returning champion in each with Shenendehowa sophomore Stevo Poulin and Maple Hill senior Trent Svingala.

Here are a few things to know.

THE SECTION II TEAM

Section II’s 53-member contingent includes 29 Section II champions, 14 from Division I and 15 Division II, as well as 24 additional qualifiers. Section II Division I 160-pound champion Peter Meshkov is unable to compete due to a fractured sternum, and his replacement is Section II runner-up Colden Dorfman of Shenendehowa.

Twenty-eight Section II wrestlers are going in with top eight seedings.

TOP SEEDS

Section II’s No. 1 seeds are Poulin (DI, 106 pounds), Svingala (DII, 132) and Zack Lawrence of Duanesburg (DII, 152), who have a combined 128-0 record. Poulin and Lawrence — Section II’s all-time wins leader with 273 — both placed first at the prestigious Eastern States Classic earlier in the season.

Section II’s No. 2 seeds are Jake Stangle of Ballston Spa (DI, 285) and Charlie Grygas of Duanesburg (DII, 160)

Section II’s No. 3 seeds are Brock Delsignore of Shenendehowa (DI, 145), Caleb Svingala of Maple Hill (DII, 106), Nolan McNeill of Warrensburg/Bolton (DII, 195) and Craig Sawyer of Hoosick Falls (DII, 285).

A LOOK BACK

Section II had six finalists at last year’s state meet, with Poulin winning the Division I 99-pound title, Svingala winning the Division II 120-pound title after placing first at 106 in 2017 and Orion Anderson of Schuylerville winning the Division II 126-pound title after placing first at 120 in 2017 and at 106 in 2016.

The 2018 state runner-up group included Tyler Barnes of Ballston Spa, who was denied his second straight Division I 170-pound championship, Shenendehowa 145-pounder Kiernan Shanahan, and Cohoes 220-pounder Reggie Poulin.

Section II had a trio of third-place finishers last year in Lawrence (DII, 152), Dillan Palaszewski of Galway (DII, 160) and Jack Binder of Warrensburg (DII, 220), and a trio of fourth-place finishers in Michael Gonyea of Columbia (DI, 126), Jake Cook of Ballston Spa (DI, 182) and Zac Cummings of Cambridge/Salem (DII, 113).

ELITE COMPANY

Svingala is attempting to become the fifth Section II wrestler to win three state championships. Aside from Anderson, the others to do so were Jon Cardi of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (1981-83), Frank Fronhofer of Salem (1987-89) and Austin Meys of Shenendehowa (2005, 2008-09). Svingala has not lost a match since his freshman year, when he placed fourth at the state meet. He has been selected to deliver the Wrestlers Creed speech at this year’s event.

IT COULD HAPPEN

Lawrence and Logan Duers of Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George could meet again in the DII 152-pound semifinals Saturday if both seniors prevail twice in Friday’s opening rounds. Lawrence pinned Duers for the Section II DII title.

Ethan Cooper of Cobleskill-Richmondville and Rich Forbes of Catskill could meet again in the DII 170-pound quarterfinals Friday if both prevail in their opening match. Cooper earned a major decision over Forbes when the junior copped the Section II DII title.

SCHEDULE

Friday: Parade of athletes, National Anthem, sportsmanship awards, 9:30 a.m.; Preliminaries, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Quarterfinals, 2-4 p.m.; Wrestlebacks, 4-6 p.m.; Wrestlebacks, 6-8 p.m.

Saturday: Semifinals, wrestlebacks, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Wrestlebacks, consolation semifinals, 12:30-2 p.m.; Consolation finals, 2-3:30 p.m.; Ceremonies, 5:50 p.m.; Finals, 6:30 p.m.

SECTION II TEAM

DIVISION I

99 — Jashon Holmes, 41-3, No. 8 (Shaker); Nick Palso, 31-11, unseeded (Ballston Spa).

106 — Stevo Poulin 40-0, No. 1 (Shenendehowa).

113 — Dylan Sleezer, 33-7, unseeded (Queensbury); Ryan Sleezer, 36-6, No. 8 (Queensbury).

120 — John DeConno, 40-7, unseeded (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake).

126 — Vincent Santilli, 30-5, unseeded (South Glens Falls).

132 — Jake Deguire, 43-5, unseeded (Mohonasen).

138 — Willie Thacker, 32-7, unseeded (Niskayuna); Eric Griskowitz, 38-5, No. 4 (Saratoga Springs).

145 — Brock Delsignore, 39-7, No. 3 (Shenendehowa).

152 — Sean Malenfant, 34-6, No. 7 (Averill Park); Jakob Edwards, 43-6, No. 8 (Columbia).

160 — Colden Dorfman, 23-15, unseeded (Shenendehowa); Drew Bogdan, 36-5, No. 5 (Albany Academy).

170 — Jakai Townsend, 41-6, unseeded (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake).

182 — Liam Mooney, 26-4, unseeded (Colonie).

195 — Brant Robinson, 38-1, No. 7 (Saratoga Springs).

220 — Nik Koch, 28-0, No. 6 (Averill Park).

285 — Jake Stangle, 36-5, No. 2 (Ballston Spa).

DIVISION II

99 — Jair Gomez, 37-3, unseeded (Ichabod Crane).

106 — Caleb Svingala, 40-1, No. 3 (Maple Hill); Chris Petteys, 28-6, unseeded (Hudson Falls); Peyton White, 26-5, unseeded (Watervliet).

113 — Joey Scheeren, 33-1, No. 4 (Galway); Gabe Fisher, 28-4, No. 7 (Hoosick Falls); Dylan Winchell, 43-3, No. 5 (Warrensburg/Bolton).

120 — Kaden Gransbury, 32-6, No. 8 (Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk); Riley Retell, 39-4, unseeded (Tamarac); Tanner McKenna, 41-5, unseeded (Warrensburg/Bolton).

126 — Aidan Cullen, 38-5, No. 6 (Greenville); Austin Lints, 37-3, unseeded (Schoharie).

132 — Trent Svingala, 42-0, No. 1 (Maple Hill); Matt Laporte, 32-9, unseeded (Hoosick Falls).

138 — Alec Richards, 37-2, No. 6 (Corinth); Greg Hotaling, 36-5, No. 7 (Cobleskill-Richmondville).

145 — Marlon Laing, 36-4, unseeded (Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk); Hunter McKenna, 31-2, unseeded (Warrensburg/Bolton).

152 — Zack Lawrence, 46-0, No. 1 (Duanesburg); Logan Duers, 35-6, unseeded (Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George).

160 — Charlie Grygas, 44-2, No. 2 (Duanesburg); Owen Lyons, 39-3, unseeded (Watervliet).

170 — Ethan Cooper, 38-1, No. 5 (Cobleskill-Richmondville); Rich Forbes, 38-1, unseeded (Catskill).

182 — Cody York, 40-0, No. 4 (Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George).

195 — Devon Shader, 40-2, No. 4 (Coxsackie-Athens); Nolan McNeill, 23-2, No. 3 (Warrensburg/Bolton); Brendan Covey, 40-8, unseeded (Whitehall).

220 — Jeff Crooks, 34-2, No. 5 (Cobleskill-Richmondville); Chris Wilson, 40-5, unseeded (Warrensburg/Bolton); Sterling Spoon, 35-5, unseeded (Watervliet).

285 — Craig Sawyer, 35-1, No. 3 (Hoosick Falls); Christian Salvio, 31-3, unseeded (Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk).

Reach Gazette Sportswriter Jim Schiltz at 518-395-3143, [email protected] or @jim_schiltz on Twitter.